1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to electrosurgical and microwave ablation apparatuses, systems and methods. More particularly, the present disclosure is directed to a system and method for determining the field of ablation prior to a tissue ablation procedure utilizing electrosurgical electrodes and/or microwave antennas and imaging means.
2. Background of Related Art
Energy-based tissue treatment is well known in the art. Various types of energy (e.g., electrical, ultrasonic, microwave, cryogenic, heat, laser, etc.) are applied to tissue to achieve a desired result. Electrosurgery involves application of high radio frequency electrical current to a surgical site to cut, ablate, coagulate or seal tissue. In monopolar electrosurgery, a source or active electrode delivers radio frequency energy from the electrosurgical generator to the tissue and a return electrode carries the current back to the generator. In monopolar electrosurgery, the source electrode is typically part of the surgical instrument held by the surgeon and applied to the tissue to be treated. A patient return electrode is placed remotely from the active electrode to carry the current back to the generator. In the case of tissue ablation, high radio frequency electrical current is applied to a targeted tissue site to create an ablation volume.
Microwave ablation also creates lesions by desiccating target tissue volume. Microwave energy is also a type of electromagnetic radio frequency energy similar to the type used in electrosurgical ablation but at a higher frequency. Prior to performing ablation procedures it is desirable to estimate the resulting volume of the lesion.
The resulting ablation volume may then be observed and various ablation metrics may be measured and recorded. Conventional methods of obtaining ablation metrics include recording the small diameter, large diameter, and height of the ablated tissue to calculate the volume. Typically, these three parameters are input for the equation for ellipsoidal volume to calculate an approximate ablation volume. Conventional methods such as this often provide inexact measurements, inconsistent recordings, as well as inaccurate reporting of achieved volumes. Further, conventional methods of volumetric calculation lack evaluative tools such as determining the effect of adjacent structures on the ablation volume, qualifying the completeness of the ablation volume, predicting specific volumes and/or shapes based on a given energy applicator configuration.